


Moonjune Records

by partypoisns



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - Music Store, Alternate Universe - No Band, Angst, Beating, Bottom Gerard Way, Character Death, Confident Frank, Consensual Sex, Depression, Dirty Talk, Dom Frank Iero, Emotional Baggage, First Kiss, First Time, Flirting, Fluff and Smut, Geez, Gerard Way/Skylar Anderson, Heavy Drinking, Jack Barakat/Frank Iero? Possibly, Loser Ex Boyfriend, M/M, Masturbation, Overdosing, Past Drug Use, Recreational Drug Use, Sub Gerard Way, Top Frank Iero, also: lots of fluff, and guess who works there, and let's not forget, creepy facebook stalking, doesn't go outside ever, frank fucking iero, fucking in the record store, gerard lives with his parents, just incredibly emotional Gerard, until he finds a small record store
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2017-04-13
Packaged: 2018-03-25 22:42:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 19,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3827668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/partypoisns/pseuds/partypoisns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gerard Way is 24 and lives with his parents in New York. He doesn't have a job, he rarely goes out in public, and he struggles to stay happy on a daily basis, until he meets Frank, who teaches him that you can find love where you least expect it.<br/>Frank Iero is 26 and works at a record store in downtown New York City. He's a generally happy and confident person. The sole thing he craves is someone to talk to and put his trust in. All of these needs disappear when he meets Gerard, who completely changes his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Walk Among Us

**Author's Note:**

> this is alex and allie's (partypoisns) first attempt at a fic so please be nice!!! 
> 
> if you have any suggestions or constructive criticism please feel free to tell us! we're new at this so we need all the help we can get :)
> 
> let us know if you enjoyed it/want more.
> 
> thank you!!  
> \- a&a (partypoisns)

Gerard wakes up to his mother screaming at him to get out of bed.

It's not every morning this happens, but when it does, Gerard knows she wants him to either go do something on his own or do an errand for her. Gerard's bet is that it's option A. 

He drags himself out of bed while his mom continuously yells, "Gerard! It's 2pm! Go outside and do something!" 

Gerard knows he probably should do something. But he honestly would prefer staying in bed all day, avoiding the harried streets of New York City.  
Reluctantly, he gets up and throws on a pair of jeans and a jacket. 

"Gerard!" his mom calls again.

"Fucking..." he whispers under his breath before saying, "I'll be there in a second!" 

When he gets downstairs, his mom is waiting by the counter. 

"You gonna go do something?" she asks, disappointed. 

"Yeah," he sighs, "I guess."

As much as Gerard's mom loves and supports him, they both know he should be moved out by now. He just can't find the strength to find a steady job or even steady friends for that matter. 

When Gerard walks out the door, his mother watches him walk down the busy streets before closing the door. 

About 10 minutes after Gerard leaves the house, he realizes he has no idea where he's going. But at this point, he doesn't care. He wishes he weren't even out here in the freezing cold. Why couldn't he have moved near Mikey in California when he had the chance?

Gerard's brother had gone to college in California the minute he was able to move out of the house, unlike Gerard, who struggled to get into college and ended up dropping out. Gerard didn’t feel college was right for him at the time, but he still envied his younger brother’s ability to be independent. 

Gerard’s thoughts were interrupted when he remembered he still has no idea where he’s headed. Not much interests Gerard. Even the shops in New York aren’t really his thing. Ever since Mikey moved out his mom has been constantly pestering Gerard to get out of the house and find his “cup of tea” as his mom would say. So far in New York, Gerard hasn’t found any tea he likes the taste of. 

He continues to walk, becoming irritated at the cool wind stinging his cheeks. Why hadn’t he brought a thicker jacket? Annoyed, Gerard turns around to head home, preparing some lame excuse for his mom explaining why he’s back so soon. Gerard makes his way to the nearest crosswalk trying to get to the side of the street his house was on. 

As he reaches down to press the button to prepare the walk signal, he notices something. A sticker next to the “Push for walk signal sign” reads “Moonjune Records." Underneath the words is an address. The walk signal illuminates but Gerard just stands there staring at the sticker, probably looking completely insane to the frustrated New Yorkers shoving past him. Some being more violent than necessary or saying things like “watch it, kid” under their breath. The walk signal turns off again before Gerard realizes he lost his chance to cross. Not wanting to wait once again for the busy traffic to slow down, Gerard abandons his idea of returning home. 

Music is one of the very few things Gerard does find interesting in the world. When he went to college he had met a few people who had the same interest in music as him, none of which he’s still in touch with, but he still loves music; Listening to it and occasionally writing it. He even picked up guitar a bit when Mikey started bass, but Gerard wasn’t very good. Either way, he decided he might as well check out this record store. He even had a record player that used to be his brother’s before he left to California. Besides, he might as well do something even the slightest bit interesting since he already put so much effort into leaving the sanctuary that was his room. 

The store was close, so it didn’t take much time for Gerard to walk there. When he found the store he stood outside before entering and glanced at his phone. 3:00pm. Had he really been walking for an hour? He sighs and takes a deep breath, unsure why is so anxious to simply enter a store. 

Gerard is greeted by the scent of cigarette smoke and stale, sweaty air: a scent that could really only be described as music. He begins aimlessly walking down isles, recognizing an album here and there, Gerard’s fingers graze along the edge of the albums as he walks. Occasionally he stops to flick through a pile records, his dark hair falling in his eyes a little as he leans down. Gerard stops in his tracks when he comes across Walk Among Us, the 1982 album by The Misfits. He lifts the record out of the shelf, using his hand to smooth out the sleeve, leaving a thin trail of dust on his jacket. Gerard hadn’t listened to this album in a while. The last time had probably been sometime with Mikey. He put the record down and kept looking, but found himself still thinking about it in the back of his mind. 

After he looked around more Gerard gets a little bored. He heads to the door before he remembers The Misfits album. He walks back over to it, and holds it in his hands again. Gerard reaches in to his jeans pocket to see if he had some money. Nothing. He’s about to walk away before he decides to look in his jacket pocket, desperately hoping for a little cash. Instead, Gerard pulls out his credit card. It was bound to have some money on it considering his mom always makes sure he has some incase he goes out, even though he rarely does. He walks towards the cash register feeling a little awkward and unsure how to hold the record. He approaches the counter and puts the album down, to nervous to make eye contact with anyone around him.

“Misfits. Nice," a voice says. 

Gerard looks up to see a boy behind the counter scanning the album. He has short, dark hair, sort of like Gerard’s but Gerard’s was still a little longer. There are tattoos on his hands that appear to go up his arms, but he has sleeves on so Gerard can't tell. He's short too, but Gerard isn’t exceptionally tall either, so he doesn't have to look down too much to see the boy’s hazel eyes. 

“Uh. Yeah," Gerard replies, still too nervous to make eye contact.

“It’s a great album. One of my all time favorites. I probably wouldn't be working here or even listening to music if it wasn’t for them," the boy says. Gerard doesn’t reply and instead hands him his card. The boy scans it before returning it back to Gerard. 

“You from around here? I don’t think I’ve seen you before. I usually know most of the people who come in here," the boy says, obviously trying to initiate conversation.  
“Yeah. I live a few streets down. Just haven’t been here before," Gerard replies.

“Cool. Well I’m Frank. I’m almost always here. You should stop by again. Not many people who work here as a big of Misfits fans as I am," Frank says, handing Gerard the album. 

“Oh, um. Yeah, okay,” Gerard replies, taking the record. He turns to walk away towards the door.

“Wait!” Someone shots. Gerard turns and looks around to see Frank. “I didn’t catch your name.”

“Oh. I’m Gerard, Gerard Way," he says.

“Well, see you around, Gerard Way. Let me know how you like that album.”

“I will,” Gerard replies.

If Gerard is completely honest, he probably won’t ever actually put effort into speaking to Frank again, but he says he will anyway. With that, Gerard walks out of the store, greeted by the even colder wind now that it’s later in the day.


	2. What's Done Is Done

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter 2 :)
> 
> this is a pretty short chapter, but something *cough cough* fun *cough cough* is going to happen soon
> 
> have fun!!

It's nearing the end of Frank's shift as he organizes some of the records on the shelves near the cash register. Today was a pretty slow day, he thought to himself as he picked up a misplaced record of Pink Floyd's, The Wall and put it in it's rightful section. A couple customers shuffled in and out here and there, but for the most part, nobody really bought anything. 

Just as Frank is packing up and getting ready to leave, there is a jingle at the door and a customer walks in. 

Franks stops dead in his tracks. There's something about this young man that he instantly finds so interesting and strangely appealing. His hair is jet black, his fingers gently moving the bits of it that have fallen out of place. By the looks of it, he seems about 25, but to Frank, his face is very young looking.

Frank watches him with intensity as he moves from section to section, picking up records, dusting them off, and setting them back down. Frank can't believe how interested he is in him. 

He knows his shift should've been over by now, but he has to find out who this mysterious, attractive boy is. Frank stands at the counter, watching the boy intently as he carefully picks up Walk Among Us by the Misfits. 

Jackpot. Frank almost cries. This kid who's so so effortlessly attractive walks into the record store he works at and picks up one of his all time favorite records and Frank has never even seen the guy? This has got to be some kind of wet dream. 

Frank pinches himself. This is definitely not a wet dream.

He then notices that the boy is walking up to him to purchase the record. 

"Keep it together Frank," he says under his breath as the boy approaches. 

"Misfits. Nice," Frank blurts out.

"Uh. Yeah," the boy nods. 

After saying a ton of stuff only to keep talking to the boy, Frank realizes that he hasn't asked his name. 

As he's leaving, Frank yells, "Wait! I didn't catch your name!" 

The boy turns back around and says his name slowly and seemingly seductive. Frank almost thinks he's doing it on purpose. 

Gerard Way.

3:30pm

As Frank walks home from his extended shift, Gerard Way is the only thing on his mind. He almost feels psychopathic, but strangely, he doesn't hate it. Nobody he's ever met has made him stop in his tracks, wondering if he's dreaming. Nobody he's ever met has ever been so effortlessly beautiful and calming in a way that this stranger had. 

As Frank is thinking about this, he suddenly realizes he has no idea where he's walking. He's been so enthralled by Gerard that he's gotten himself lost. 

"Shit," he groans under his breath, "Where the hell am I?" 

But then Frank realizes that he doesn't really mind that he's lost. He can always pull out his phone and figure out where he is, but he doesn't feel the need to. He marvels at the fact that his own brain involuntarily took him here. Directly in front of him is a small stage and in an instant, he recognizes the song being played: "Astro Zombies" by the Misfits. 

It was a song in the same album Gerard had bought at Moonjune. 

If this isn't fate, then what the hell is it? 

Whatever it is, Frank decides he needs to do something about it. After listening to the band play a couple songs, he realizes he’s shivering due to the cold, winter air. 

4:00pm

When Frank gets back home from a long and strange walk home, he quickly turns on the heat in his small apartment. 

After making himself some coffee, he sits down on the couch and thinks for a while. 

"What am I supposed to do? This perfect stranger walks into my life and I’m just going to nonchalantly sit here and drink coffee?" he says aloud.

No. Do something Frank. 

Unfortunately, there’s only one thing he can do: look him up on Facebook.

Frank knows what he’s about to do is probably the most obsessive, creepy ass thing anyone could ever do, but who cares? Fuck being orthodox. 

When Frank opens Facebook, he stares at the search bar for about 2 minutes, until slowly typing “Gerard Way.”

He’s the first one to pop up. Frank urgently clicks on his profile.

From what Frank can tell, Gerard seems like a very simple guy. He doesn’t have very many friends, which Frank doesn’t mind. In fact, he tends to like more people with less friends. 

Frank unconsciously goes through his pictures. Most of them are him with what seems to be his brother. Others are him alone or with his parents.   
After looking at most of them, Frank realizes that he’s not smiling in most of his pictures, which almost breaks his heart. For some reason, a protective feeling washes over him. He feels as though he could help this boy. 

Somehow. 

After a short while, he decides to friend him.

Oh god, Frank thinks. Here goes nothing.

He hesitantly clicks on the “Add As Friend” button.

Frank sighs and backs away from his computer. 

What’s done is done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ngl frank. i've done the same thing multiple times
> 
> hope you enjoyed :)
> 
> -a&a


	3. Drive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for the nice comments :)
> 
> here's chapter 3! enjoy!!!
> 
> -a&a

Gerard's walk home from Moonjune is cold and uneventful. He arrives home almost at the exact same time his phone buzzes, revealing a text from his Mom.  
Mom: went to the grocery store. home soon.

Gerard enters his house, grateful he grabbed his keys out of his other jeans. Gerard retreats immediately to his room upstairs and shuts the door, placing the record on his unmade bed. Suddenly his phone buzzes again, and assuming it's his mom again he sighs and picks up the phone. However Gerard was wrong, and the alert was actually a Facebook notification. "Frank Iero sent you a friend request" illuminates his screen. Iero? Gerard had never heard that last name before. He unlocks his phone and launches Facebook, clicking on the request. It's the boy from the record store.

Gerard is puzzled. They had no mutual friends, talked about a total of 3 sentences to each other, and only met a few hours ago. How could Frank have found him? Unless he... searched for him? Gerard didn't know why this guy would have tried to find him. Still, he searches through the other boy's profile. Most of Frank's photos were music related, and he learns Frank played guitar, and he played it well. Gerard watches a video or two and also notices Frank has plenty of friends, unlike himself. 

Gerard continues to click through his photos and eventually accepts the request. 

After accepting Frank's request, something dawns on Gerard. Frank was the first person other than his Mom or Mikey that he has actually had a conversation with in about a month. He'd went out a few times here and there, but always by himself, and only to get food or anything else he needed. 

Gerard closes his laptop and lies on his bed. He decides he needs to leave the house more and find a job. He's frustrated at his lack in ability to make friends and hold a job. How could his brother be so fucking good with people, smart, and independent all at once?

Good traits must skip a generation, he thinks to himself. 

He runs his fingers through his hair and puts his head on his pillow. What were these intrusive thoughts coming out of all the sudden? He thinks back to the record store and about Frank. Why would he have put effort into finding Gerard on Facebook when they had only just met? 

Gerard was tired. 12 hours of sleep apparently wasn't enough. He wishes his sleeping pattern wasn't so fucked up. 

He looks at his phone, 6:00pm. Gerard closes his eyes until he hears his front door open. 

"Gerard? You back?" His mom half shouts up the stairs.

"Yeah, Mom. Up here," he replies.

"Come down Gerard. I brought dinner," she answers.

Gerard walks downstairs and helps his mom with the grocery bags before they sit down to eat the Chinese food she bought.

"What'd you do today Gerard? You look a little... off. Everything okay?" She asks.

"I'm fine. Just went to a record store and talked to some people. Well, actually just one person. I bought an album though," he says. 

Gerard's mom smiles. He wonders if it's sad that something as small as talking to someone makes his mom so happy. 

"That's great! Was it a girl?" His mom asks.

"No. It was a boy. But not like... in that way," Gerard says. "We just talked a little about music. Nothing special."

He stands up to take his and his Mom's plate to the sink.

"Okay. Well I'm glad you went out," she says.

Gerard goes upstairs and takes a shower; a longer one than usual. He lets the warm water seep through his hair and run down his back. 

When he gets out, he dries off and looks in the mirror at his messy, wet hair. He pulls on sweats and an old t-shirt and walks into his room- something Gerard usually loves doing, but this time it was different. Gerard didn't want to be in his room. In fact, the thought of sitting in his room right now made him cringe. He needed to get out of the house and felt like he couldn't stand another second in there. 

He replaces his pajamas with jeans, a plain gray long sleeve, and a denim jacket and walks downstairs, grabbing his mom's keys of the counter on the way out. He exits the house without telling her he's leaving and gets in the car. He starts driving with no idea where he's going.


	4. Swigging and Scrolling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prepare yourselves....

Somehow, Gerard ends up driving to liquor store. 

And it’s only 6:30. 

He trudges up to the counter of the small store, arms full of beer and vodka. The lady behind the register gives him a strange look, either from the amount of alcohol Gerard was purchasing, or the fact that he looked like a complete mess. She asks for his ID and Gerard groans with an “are you fucking serious?” type of look. He hands her his ID and pays for the alcohol. 

Once back in the car, Gerard glances at the beer. He reaches for it but hesitates before opening it. What am I doing? Driving drunk at night in fucking New York City won’t help me figure my life out, he thinks.

Gerard places the bottle back on the seat and starts to drive again. This time, Gerard arrives at a motel. 

It wasn’t a nice motel. It was one of those crappy $75 a night motels, usually for people just looking for a place to sleep on a road trip or something.  
Or for getting wasted. 

Gerard stumbles up to his room on the second floor before throwing the alcohol on one of the beds and reaching for his first beer. 

Since Gerard isn’t a very social person, he doesn’t have much experience with alcohol. He’s been drunk in college and a few times with Mikey, but not enough to be able to handle his liquor well, which is why it doesn’t take that many bottles for Gerard to get totally hammered. 

Somewhere in the process of drinking, Gerard starts to cry. He doesn’t cry hard, but still, he has no idea where these tears are coming from. 

The room starts spinning and he can’t think straight. The next thing he knows he’s on his phone launching Facebook… and entering Frank’s name in the search bar. Gerard scrolls through his pictures again. 

What the fuck am I doing? Gerard thinks. 

He continues to look through the photos, unaware of where this sudden fascination with a stranger came from. He looks at Frank’s eyes in the photos. He looks so happy laughing with his friends. Gerard wishes he knew what that was like. 

Something pops up on Frank’s profile when Gerard refreshes the page. It’s a Spotify tag. “Frank Iero is listening to ‘Walk Among Us’ by The Misfits.” 

What the fuck. 

Gerard walks into this guys store, barely talks to him, receives a friend request, and now the guy is listening to the album he purchased? Gerard finds it hard to believe this is all a coincidence. He wonders why this Frank kid seems to be so interested in him. He thinks about how Frank had told him to come back soon and talk. Gerard shakes the memory away, and instead thinks about how Frank is listening to music, probably with friends, while he is getting drunk off of cheap beer in a shitty motel.  
As he scrolls through Frank’s Facebook, Gerard takes a couple swigs of one of the beers by his side. 

After a while of swigging and scrolling, he comes across one specific picture that makes him feel a certain way.

In the photograph, Frank is making out with some guy on a tabletop. Gerard bets the picture was taken a while ago because a) it looks like a college party, and b) Frank has a completely different hair style. 

This specific picture makes Gerard feel a bit tingly inside.

Gerard tells himself it’s the alcohol that’s making him feel this way. 

But it’s not. 

Oh, it’s definitely not. 

Next, Gerard does something he does often, but not like this. 

His jeans are getting tighter by the second, and if he doesn’t do anything about it now, he’ll probably die right here in this motel. 

As he’s flipping through one picture after another on Frank’s profile, he sloppily shifts his body. Now laying on his back, he slowly drags his free hand down to the hem of his pants. 

As he unbuckles his jeans, he feels the fabric gradually grazing his dick. 

When he eventually strips down to his boxers, he starts to palm himself through the thin material. 

While still holding the phone with Frank’s Facebook on the screen in one hand, he manages to stick the other under the fabric to stroke his length.  
“Oh, f-fuck,” he groans. 

His sloppy, careless movements cause him to drop the phone.

Fuck it, he doesn’t need pictures of Frank to get off. All he needs to do is imagine the things Frank would do to him.

He’s sweating by now; his dark black hair falling around his face as it sticks to his diaphoretic, clammy skin. 

“F-F-Frank,” he cries as he strokes himself, “Yeah, r-right fucking there.” 

As he strokes himself firmer, he tightens his grip and lets his hips grind forward and back. 

He imagines Frank sitting in the chair next to him, watching his every move. 

“Fucking look at you,” he imagines Frank saying, “Fuckin’ yourself for me.”

“Mhm,” Gerard breathes as he feels himself edging closer.

It only takes a few more thrusts and strokes and he’s coming, head banging against the backboard of the small motel bed. 

As he recovers, he thinks about what the hell just happened.

He just fucking got off to a total stranger who he’s only met once, not to mention that he’s a boy.

“What’s my fucking problem?” he accidently says out loud.


	5. Here We Go Again

Gerard wakes up the next morning with a headache, and not just any headache, one that makes him feel like his head is being constantly hit with a baseball bat. He groans and rolls over in the bed, clutching the cheap hotel pillow and covering his head from the small ray of sun peeking in through the window. He lifts his head up, not even remembering where he is. It’s not until Gerard glances at the floor at the many empty bottles on the carpet before he remembers what happened the night before.

“Fuck.” He mutters.

He reaches over and grabs his phone discovering 7 texts from his mom and numerous missed calls, all freaking out about Gerard and where he is. Not wanting to go into detail, he replies telling her he’s okay and crashed at a friends last night. 

Naturally, Gerard launches Facebook. The app opens up to Frank’s profile, and Gerard begins to remember his night even more. The picture of Frank on the table with that other guy, the alcohol, his...episode. 

“What the fuck?” He says to himself. 

Had last night really happened? Did Gerard really get off from looking at pictures of Frank? He doesn’t know how to feel. Nobody he’s ever known has made him feel this way, especially not a boy. Gerard didn’t have much experience dating. He’s seen a few people here and there, never doing much more than kissing. They had all been girls, and Gerard never felt anything special with any of them. 

Gerard tries to get out of bed, his body numb and achy from the alcohol. He doesn't take many steps before he hurries to the bathroom and hangs his head over the toilet becoming re introduced with the Chinese food from last night. After his stomach is completely empty he feels a little better. He walks back into the room and puts his pants back on followed by pulling on his pants. Gerard finally checks his phone, noticing that its 12:00 pm already. He leaves all the bottles on the tacky motel carpet and walks out of the room. He knows he shouldn't drive in this condition even if he’s sober by now, but still, Gerard hadn’t been making any good decisions lately. He gets in his car and drives.

Starbucks has always been something Gerard loves and he’s not afraid to admit it. He finds one and walks in, ordering his usual before finding a table to sit at. Some people stare at Gerard, probably wondering why he looks like a complete mess or why he’s wearing sunglasses inside, but they would understand if they were experiencing this hangover. 

When there’s no more coffee left in the cup, Gerard leaves. He sits in his car but never pulls out of the parking lot. He can’t stop thinking about Frank. He’s literally said 3 sentences total to this guy and somehow feels like he needs to know him better. Why had that one picture made Gerard feel so weird? Was he envious of the other guy on the table with Frank? Seriously. 

What the actual fuck is happening to me? he thinks.

He does the only thing that seems even the slightest bit rational.

He’s going to Frank’s store.

He asks himself over and over again what he’s doing but finds no strength or will to turn the car around and go somewhere else. He knows that when he gets to the store he can’t make Frank think he came back just to see him. He needs to act natural, look through some albums, and maybe Frank will come up to him and ask him he’s doing. Shit. Gerard thinks. That’s such a simple question and yet Gerard is hoping and praying Frank doesn’t ask it because he wouldn’t know how to respond. He passes the store and searches for a parking lot.

Gerard gets out of his car and walks to Moonjune. His hair is a disaster, his clothes are wrinkled, his eyes are baggy and red, and his palms are sweating. He tries to shake off how horrendous he knows his appearance is and continues to move towards the store. 

Gerard has tried to quit smoking but is having minimal success. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a cigarette. He lights it and takes a few drags before approaching the door. He releases one last breath of smoke before tossing his cigarette to the ground and stepping on it with his shoe. 

If there’s one thing Gerard is more uncomfortable with than anything else in the world, it’s talking to other people. He never puts any effort into it and rarely does it, which is why he seriously can’t wrap his hungover head around the fact that he’s back at this store, hoping to find Frank. 

After much hesitation, he enters the store. He immediately begins searching through albums. Not much time passes by before he sees him. 

Here we go.


	6. Trust Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my apologies for the amount of time it took for this chapter to be up
> 
> enjoy though!!
> 
> thanks for the nice comments :)
> 
> -a&a

When Frank sees him walking in, he’s instantly happy. But a couple seconds after, he realizes that Gerard seems more sad than usual. He looks super uncomfortable, his hair unbrushed and clothes flimsy and baggy; He has bags under his eyes and he looks as if he hasn’t slept in days. 

Frank is determined to find out why he looks and acts this way. But, before he can walk up to him, Gerard is already walking his way. 

“Hey,” Gerard grumbles as he looks down at Frank. Even though he isn’t much taller than the boy, he still looks slightly down on him. 

“Uh, hey!” Frank says excitedly, wondering why Gerard has come over to him, “So, listen. I know it was weird of me to friend request y-,” Frank starts, but Gerard interrupts him.

“No, no. It’s okay. Trust me. I just wanted to say- um,” Frank realizes Gerard probably doesn’t actually have anything to say and laughs a little, but stifles it.   
Gerard looks at him oddly, almost like he’s been hurt.

“Sorry, sorry. I can have that effect on people. Yanno, them not being able to talk and all,” Frank grimaces, impressed with himself.

“Oh,” Gerard glances at the floor awkwardly, obviously not understanding Franks sense of humor.

“Hey, you okay? Ever since you walked in here you’ve seemed down,” Frank asks sincerely, “I hope I’m not too straightforward.”

“I guess,” Gerard shrugs. 

After a while of silence, Frank decides to take a leap of faith.

“Hey, you know what? Why don’t you come over to my place and we can hang out and talk. It’s not too far from here so-”

Gerard cuts him off. “Yes.”

Wow, that was easy. Even though Gerard had said yes to such a small request, Frank can’t help but notice that he did it so abruptly. 

“Awesome,” Franks face lights up as he smiles, “Today’s shift ends right about now, so we can get going when I get all my stuff together.”

“Cool,” Gerard shuffles his feet nervously.

Frank excitedly musters his possessions and picks up a few records to play when they get to the apartment. As he does this, he can see Gerard out of the corner of his eye, standing in front of the front desk. 

Frank stops for a minute to really look at him. His dark clothing and unkempt hair seemed to be even more dark and unkempt than usual, but Frank liked this. He also couldn’t believe that this boy was going to be at his apartment in a few minutes. 

Then he realized he was getting side tracked. 

When he finishes gathering all his things, he ambles over to Gerard.

“Shall we?” He asks, pointing at the front door. 

“We shall,” Gerard smiles wearily. 

The car ride is quiet, but not uncomfortable. Frank puts on a song from the album “Never Mind The Bollocks” by the Sex Pistols and they rock out a little bit, but the music is mostly at a low volume. They both like it this way.

When they get to the apartment, Frank decides to show Gerard around. After all, his place is filled with some pretty awesome shit. 

When Frank shows Gerard his record and CD collections, Gerard looks thoroughly impressed.

“Dude, this is so sick. I wish I had a collection like this,” Gerard says excitedly. 

“That’s the most words you’ve said to me ever since we’ve met,” Frank laughs.

“I guess so, huh?”

Frank is so happy that he’s breaking Gerard out of his shell. He can see that he seems looser and calm now that they’re alone.

He smiles to himself.

“What?” Gerard asks, puzzled. “What’s so funny?”

“You’re somethin’ else, Gerard Way,” Frank says.

Gerard blushes bright red, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I get this vibe from you and I don’t know. I just want to be around it, yanno?” Frank realizes Gerard is blushing even more and almost reaches for his cheek, but holds himself back. 

Gerard is clearly speechless because not a word is coming from his mouth.

Frank smiles at him and walks over to one of his many record players and puts on a soft tune. After this, he sits on the edge of his bed and motions for Gerard to sit next to him. They sit here like this for a short while, humming the lyrics in unison. 

“You’re a pretty expert hummer,” Frank laughs.

“I’d like to think I am,” Gerard smiles shyly and looks over at Frank.

“I’m gonna go get some water,” Frank says. “You want anything, Gee?”

“Gee,” Gerard utters. “You just called me Gee.” 

“Yeah, you okay with that? I mean, I figured it’s okay because it’s the first letter of-,” Frank starts, but before he can finish, Gerard moves closer to him on the bed and pushes him down on the soft fabric. 

Inches away from Gerard’s face, Frank whispers, “Sorry?” But before he can get one more word in, he can feel Gerard’s soft lips on his own.

Shortly after, Gerard backs away urgently. 

“Sorry. Sorry. I’m so sorry,” Gerard frantically says.

“No, wait. Gerard.”

“No really. This was a mistake. I never should’ve come here. I’ve got to go. I’ve really got to go.” 

Frank tries to stop him and just fucking talk to him about what just happened, but Gerard is already out the door. 

“Shit,” Frank curses.


	7. Brother

Gerard didn’t know why he agreed to go home with Frank. He also didn’t know why Frank even invited him. But he definitely didn’t know why he kissed him.   
Gerard practically sprinted out of Frank’s apartment without a word. He walked all the way back to his house before locking himself in his room.   
“Fuck!” He almost yells. 

He rolls over onto his bed grabbing fist fulls of his own hair. Gerard has no idea what these feelings are. He didn’t want to feel anything when he kissed Frank, which is why he was so quick about doing it; because he had to know. But the truth is Gerard did feel something. Something good. He knows it's ridiculous. He barely knew this guy yet he feels like they’ve been through so much. Frank could be psycho murderer for all Gerard knew, but he knows that’s not the case. How could that kiss have caused him to feel so much? Gerard wasn’t experienced with kissing at all, but compared to the few he’s had none of them felt like the one with Frank. It was short and sweet, barely even a kiss, yet it was perfect and made Gerard tingle just by thinking about it. He can’t help but imagine what doing more with Frank would be like. 

Gerard tries to fall asleep, but he can’t get images of Frank out of his head. He lies in his bed with his legs pressed up into his chest, rolled up like a ball. He begins to cry a little but he has no idea why. The confusion of this whole situation is just too much for him. He wants to talk to someone about everything. Not Frank.Definitely not Frank. Not his mom, not any friends. The only person he could even imagine bringing this up with is Mikey. He looks at what time it is in California then decides to call Mikey anyway. 

“Gerard!” Mikey answers.

“Hey brother! How've you been?” Gerard asks.

“Pretty good. It’s getting pretty hot here. How’s the weather there?” Mikey asks.

“Still cold as fuck.” Gerard replies.

Mikey laughs. “Anyway,” He says, “What’s up Gerard?”

Gerard pauses, realizing what he’s about to get into. “Well the truth is, I have, uh. I’m just...confused?” Gerard utters.

“Confused? What about?” Mikey replies. 

Gerard sighs and sits up on his bed. “Well, I met this boy. I don’t know him very well but I...there’s just something different about him. Special. I was so confused about the way I felt towards him and kissed him out of nowhere when we were hanging out, then practically sprinted out of his house without saying anything. I just don’t know what to do. I had to talk to you. I couldn’t talk to mom about it. I really like Frank, Mikey. I’ve never felt like this before. I don’t even know what's happening.” Gerard says. Mikey pauses, probably searching for what to say. 

“First of all,” Mikey starts. “I love you. You’re my brother no matter what and I want you to know that. Second of all, if you like Frank, go for it. Besides, I was wondering when you would find someone.” Mikey says. 

“You mean, you aren’t surprised?” Gerard asks.

“Not really. I mean, you were never really in any relationships or anything. I didn’t know what was going on with you. It seems like you’re starting to figure it out, and I’m happy about that, Gerard.” Mikey says. Gerard smiles on the other end of the phone. 

“Thanks Mikey.” Gerard says.

“Of course.” Mikey answers. 

Gerard continues to talk to his brother until Mikey needs to go to class. A sense of relief comes over Gerard after talking to Mikey. He’s happy he talked to someone about.   
Then Gerard remember Frank, and about what happened between them. He hopes he didn’t scare Frank off or something. Almost as if on cue, Gerard’s phone buzzes revealing a Facebook message from Frank. 

“Dude. Wanna tell me why you ran out of my house like that?” It says.

“I don’t know. It was wrong of me to do that. I’m sorry.” Gerard answers.

“What are you sorry for? Kissing me, or running away like that?” Frank writes.

“Both I guess.” Gerard types. 

“Well don’t be” Frank responds.

Gerard just types a “?” and hits send.

“Do you not understand?” Frank writes. “I searched you on Facebook after having just met and sent you a request. I invited you over to my house after you walked into my store randomly. Do you really not fucking see it? I see something special in you.” Frank writes.

Gerard doesn’t know how to respond. He didn’t know Frank felt this way about him. 10 go bye and Gerard still hasn’t responded. He notices that the icon which signifies Frank is typing has appeared, so he just waits. 

“You know what? Fuck it. It’s still early. Send me your address. I’m picking you up so we can talk. Be there in 10.”

Gerard doesn’t mind Frank is coming. He changes his jeans and puts on a flannel before grabbing his keys, wallet, and phone. 

“Gerard, someone is here for you!” Gerard’s mom shouts. Gerard walks downstairs to see Frank in the doorway with his mom. 

“Fuck” Gerard mutters.


	8. Bite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> double update!!!
> 
> lucky you :)

Gerard feels nervous seeing Frank standing next to his mom. He’s not sure why, because it’s not like she knows anything about them.   
“Gerard, your friend is here.” She says.

“Yeah. I uh, see that.” He replies. Frank gives Gerard a cheeky smile through the doorway.   
“You ready?” Frank says.

“Yeah lets go.” Gerard meets Frank on the other side of the door without another word to his mom. When he gets into Frank’s car he says,  
“What the fuck was that? Why did you come to my door?”

“What? I said I was coming to get you.” Frank replies. 

“You could of just told me to come out.” Gerard says.

“Come out to your mom, or come out of the house?” He says. 

“Not funny. And anyway, how do you know I haven’t told her?” Gerard answers.

“Oh come on. Pretty sure you didn’t even know.” Frank replies. Gerard doesn’t answer. 

“Where are we going anyways, Frank.” Gerard asks.

“To my store.” He replies.

“What? You come pick me up at my house and take me to your work? Seems pretty lame to me.” Gerard says.

“I’m not working, dumbass.” Frank replies. “We’re just gonna hang out, look at some music. It’s closing soon anyways.” Again, Gerard stays silent. The remainder of the short ride was quiet, except for the faint sound of the radio playing “Ziggy Stardust” By Bowie.

When they enter the store, there are still a few customers there, but business is slow. Gerard is pissed, so he quickly runs to the back of the store to where the MGMT records are.

After about ten minutes of flipping through records, Frank walks over to Gerard with one of his coworkers.

“Gerard,” Frank taps him on the shoulder, “I want to introduce you to someone.” 

Gerard sighs and turns around. 

“This is Ray Toro. He works here and he’s a really good friend of mine,” Frank smiles and points to Ray.

“Ray, this is Gerard, he’s a new friend of mine,” Frank says, putting emphasis on the word “friend.”

“Nice to meet you,” Gerard grumbles.

“You too!” Ray says enthusiastically, “Anyway, Frank, I have to leave my shift early and I was wondering if you could lock up for me.”

“Sure, I’d love to,” Frank says, looking over at Gerard and smirking.

“Great,” Ray says and gives Frank the keys to the store.

15 minutes later, the remaining customers leave and it’s time for the store to close. 

“Gerard, I’ll be right back” Frank says. “Just stay in here while I lock up and I’ll come back to grab some of my things.”

“Okay.” Gerard mumbles. 

Frank leaves to lock up and comes back in the store. He walks into the back office, so Gerard follows him. When he enters the room Frank is putting some stuff into a backpack covered with patches and pins from bands. Gerard sits on the desk next to where Frank is. Suddenly, Frank puts the backpack down and approaches Gerard. Gerard is unsure why he’s doing this but he doesn’t question it. Frank comes even closer to Gerard, standing between Gerard’s legs dangling by the desk. 

Gerard tries to speak, “Frank, what are you-”

He’s cut off when Frank’s lips hit his. Gerard begins to feel that amazing sensation as last time, only it’s better. Gerard is nervous, and he thinks Frank can tell.   
“Just relax.” Frank says into Gerard’s mouth. 

Gerard finds the bottom of Frank’s shirt and reaches his hands up, his fingers trailing up his stomach. He wraps his arms around Frank’s waist. Gerard can’t believe how right this feels. Frank moves his mouth to Gerard’s neck and his head falls back before their lips meet again.

Gerard never wants it to end.

Inconveniently, Gerard’s phone rings in his pocket causing them both to jump. 

“Shit!” Frank yells. 

Gerard reaches his hand to his lip and discover it’s bleeding.

“Fuck, man. I’m so sorry. The phone startled me. I didn’t mean to bite it that hard.” Frank apologizes.   
“No, I mean. it’s fine. I’m fine.” Gerard replies. 

“It’s really bleeding Gerard. Let me get you a paper towel or something.” Frank says as he walks out of the room.   
Gerard looks at the phone. It was his mom, but he had missed the call.

Frank comes back and hands Gerard a napkin to stop the bleeding. He asks who the call was from and Gerard tells him it was just his mom but he didn’t answer, and that he should probably be getting home. When his lip stops bleeding and has scabbed over they head to Frank’s car. 

Frank drives Gerard back to his house, apologizing again before he gets out.

“It’s fine, Frank,” He says. “And thanks. That was fun.” Gerard smirks at Frank and walks up to his house.


	9. Truth

Gerard walks up to his door as Frank drives away. He can still feel Frank on his lips...or is it the cut? He unlocks his door and walks inside to be greeted by his mom.

“Gerard, what happened to your lip? And why is there a bruise on your neck?” She asks confused. 

Shit. Gerard hadn’t noticed his neck. Boy would he kick Frank’s ass when he saw him again. 

“It’s nothing. I bit my lip while eating and my neck is just...dirt or something? I’ll go shower.” Gerard tries to walk away but is stopped.

“You tell me truthfully what’s going on right now,” she says.

“I’m 24 years old. I don’t have to tell you anything,” he snaps.

“As long as you live under my roof you will. What’s gotten into you?” She asks angrily.

Gerard turns around and hits his hand on the wall next to him.

“Fine. You know what? I’m gay. And you remember they guy who picked me up? That’s Frank and we’re together. Kind of. If you want me to explain where I got these,” he says gesturing to his lip and neck, “I can, but I think you can piece it together. There. Are you fucking happy?”

His mom is shocked. Gerard can’t determine if it’s from what he told her or the way he just spoke to her. Probably both. He tries to turn around and walk upstairs but he’s caught off guard by his mom hugging him from behind. He turns around and hugs her back. Gerard starts to cry, and can see his mom is too. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She asks.

“I didn’t even know. I mean, I kinda did, but I didn’t know for sure until I met Frank,” he replies.

“You can always tell me these things,” she says. “I’ll love you no matter what and you should know that. Do you want me to tell Mikey?” She asks.

“He knows. I talked to him a little while ago,” he replies. “I’m tired, mom. I’m gonna shower and go to sleep. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to be sorry,” she says. “And you get that Frank of yours to come over soon. I’d like to properly meet him.”

Gerard smiles and goes upstairs. He enters his bathroom and takes his clothes off, throwing them on the floor. He waits for the water to heat up before he steps in, letting the water soak his thick, dark hair. When he’s done he steps out and wraps a towel around his waist and looks at himself in the mirror. He sees the mark Frank left on his neck. He moves his fingers up to it and traces the outline, remembering what they did earlier in Frank’s store. He puts some sweats and an old T shirt on and goes into his room.

Gerard lies down onto his bed and thinks about everything that happened today. Frank, what it felt like to be with him, and his conversation with his mom. Just thinking about Frank made him smile. He imagines his face, his dark hair falling over his eyes a little. His lip ring, his tattoos. God, was he attractive. 

He unlocks his phone before setting it aside to go to sleep. He has a message from Frank that reads, “Goodnight, Gee. Hopefully your lip is okay. See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Goodnight.” He replies.

“Everything okay?” Frank asks.

“Yeah. Just tired. We’ll talk tomorrow,” he types.

Frank reads the message but doesn’t reply, which makes Gerard think that maybe Frank has the wrong idea, like he’s mad at him or something. He decides to do something he thinks is lame, but he knew Frank would like it. 

He decides to take a picture of himself lying in his bed. It’s just of his shoulders up, and Gerard’s duvet is visible in the picture. His face looks pale from the flash and his hair is wet and messy but he sends it anyway, writing “Goodnight ;)” under it. 

“Fuck.” Frank replies. “Wish I was next to you ;).”

Gerard smiles at how lame they are, but he loves it anyway. He locks his phone and places it on his night stand. He turns over in his bed. 

Gerard falls asleep with a smile on his face.


	10. Public Displays Of Affection

When Frank wakes up, he remembers what happened the night before. He remembers when he bit Gerard’s lip on accident. He remembers how insanely perfect it felt to be close to him. 

Frank rolls over on his bed and looks at the time. It reads 9:24 am.

Shit. He’s supposed to be at work in 6 minutes. 

He frantically gets out of bed and throws on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, but doesn’t bother to shower. He can still feel Gerard all over, which gives him a sense of comfort.   
He touches his lips and smiles.

9:31 am

Frank makes it to work just in time.

“Hey!” Ray shouts from the corner of the store, “You’re a minute late, mister!”

“Oh, stop bitching,” Frank snarls, laughing.

“I’m kidding,” Ray smiles, “I’m gonna go on a coffee run. Want anything?”

“Is that even a question?” Frank asks annoyingly. 

When Ray leaves, Frank decides to call Gerard and see what he’s up to.

Gerard answers, clearly groggy and tired.

“Morning,” Gerard says sleepily.

“Aw,” Frank coos. “Your voice is so adorable in the morning.”

“Oh, shut up,” Gerard groans. 

“Anyway,” Frank ignores his comment. “You doing anything today? Figured you could come over to the store and hang out.”

“Yeah, sure,” Gerard replies.

Frank thinks for a little bit before he starts talking again.

“I also want to talk about us,” Frank says.

“What do you mean?” Gerard asks, confused.

“I’ll explain when you get here, but please get here soon. I need someone else to talk to besides Ray,” Frank says. 

“He seems like a cool guy though,” Frank can almost see Gerard smile through the phone. 

“He is, but I need you,” Frank says, putting emphasis on the “I need you.” 

All Frank can hear is Gerard breathing through the phone for a while. 

“Okay,” Gerard eventually says, “I’ll be there soon.”

After about a half hour, Frank realizes Gerard’s definition of soon isn’t quite the same as his. 

But then he hears the door creak open and Gerard walk in.

“Damn!” Frank yells from across the room. “Who’s this insanely fucking attractive stranger who just walked in? I’d hit that!”

“Shh!” Gerard whispers, slowly walking towards him. 

Frank runs over to him and grabs his waist, kissing his lips.

“Stop!” Gerard bats Frank’s hands away, trying to hide his smile.

“Oh, come on. You love it,” Frank teases. 

Gerard smiles.  
“And what’s this?” Frank asks, touching the hickey he left on Gerard’s neck. “Who on earth did this to you? I gotta admit, they did a pretty good job.”

“You cocky son of a-” Gerard starts, but Frank cuts him off by pressing a few soft kisses on his neck, favoring the spot where his hickey lay. 

“Dude,” Gerard says, trying to stay collected. “We’re in public. There are people around.”

“Oops,” Frank says. “Forgot.”

“Right.”

20 minutes pass and Frank and Gerard are sitting in one of the back rooms in the record store. 

"So," Gerard starts. "You wanted to talk about us?"

"Yeah," Frank looks around the room to see if anyone's around.

Gerard hums, waiting for Frank's response. 

"What- what are we?" Frank struggles to find the words. "Are we just fooling around? Because I hope to God we aren't."

"I really like you," Gerard says. "And I really want to be with you. I told my mom I was gay yesterday and she took it incredibly well. I also told her about you."

"Dude, that's unbelievable. I know how hard that is. I've been there," Frank smiles, scooching over him and kissing him on the cheek. 

Gerard blushes. 

"I really, really like you too. Ever since you walked into Moonjune- ever since the first time I saw you, I've wanted to know who you are. And now I do," Frank says. 

"You don't know everything though," Gerard sighs. "Trust me, you don't want to know everything."

Frank frowns. "I do. I want to know everything. I want to help you."

"Good luck. I'm kind of hard to fix," Gerard says. 

"Whatever you say," Frank teases, putting his arm around Gerard and nuzzling his face into the crook of his neck. 

Gerard smiles and changes the subject. "Not that you weren't aware already, but you're pretty damn adorable."

"Tell me something I don't know," Frank laughs.


	11. Highs and Lows

After talking and hanging out in the back room, Gerard heads into the store to peruse records while Frank finishes up his shift. He would get to leave a little early today because Ray wanted to say thanks for locking up for him, so he would finish Frank’s shift. As he’s flipping through music he notices Frank and the way he works. He knows everyone. Every person who comes in the store gets a huge welcome. He makes conversation, suggests music, and cracks jokes. He can’t help but smile at the fact that he knows Frank is his. 

He continues to look around. Every once in a while Frank pulls him into the back room for a quick kiss. Gerard melts at Frank’s touch. He can barely stay collected at even the smallest, shortest kiss. He finds himself having trouble pulling away when Frank has to return to work. They continue this routine until Frank can leave from his shift. 

“Wanna just go back to my house? We can chill and listen to music.” Frank asks.

“Yeah, that’s cool.” Gerard replies. They get into Frank’s car and make the short drive to his apartment. When they get there, Frank turns on some music and gets them drinks. They sit on the couch for a bit and talk until Frank gets up to use the bathroom. 

“Hey Frank, it’s kinda cold, do you have a jacket?” He shouts.

“Yeah man, bottom drawer of my dresser.” Frank shouts through the bathroom. 

Gerard makes his way into Frank’s room and finds his dresser. He opens the bottom drawer and finds some sweatshirts. He picks one up and notices something underneath it when he removes the jacket. It’s a plastic bag, and when he picks it up he realizes it’s filled with weed. 

“Gerard, do-” Frank walks in and begins speaking before he stops talking, noticing what Gerard had found. 

“Oh. Yeah, um. I forgot about that.” He says.

“I didn’t realize you were into this stuff.” Gerard says. 

“I mean kinda. That’s it though. It’s not like I do any hard drugs or anything. Anymore at least.”

Gerard decides to ignore that last comment. 

“You ever smoke?” Frank asks.

“No. I have, but not for a while.” He replies. 

“You want to?” Frank asks, smirking at Gerard. 

Gerard isn’t sure what to say. He’s not into that stuff, but the truth is he would actually like to get high with Frank.

“Yeah, I guess.” He replies. 

“Sick.” Frank says. 

20 minutes later, they’re back on the couch. Frank’s apartment is now thick with the scent of weed. 

“I feel weird as fuck.” Gerard says.

“Dude I know.” Frank laughs. 

“No I mean. I feel really weird. Is this supposed to happen? Frank, why are my hands shaking?” Gerard panics. 

“Calm down, it’s okay.” Frank says.

“I can’t. What’s happening? Where are we?” Gerard says. He stands up and starts pacing around Frank’s apartment. 

“Gerard, you’re okay. Sit down.” Gerard goes and sits next to Frank. He lays down and puts his head in his own lap. 

“It’s okay.” Frank repeats. “You’re just having a bad trip. It’ll be over before you know it.”

“No, no, no, no.” Gerard cries. “Make it stop, Frank. Please.” 

Gerard can feel his heart racing and palms sweating. He lays his head down on Frank's lap and breathes heavily. 

"Shhh. You're alright." Frank whispers into Gerard's ear.

After 20 more minutes of Gerard panicking and Frank struggling to relax him, Gerard calms down. 

“That was weird as fuck. That’s never happened to me before.” Gerard says, still laying on Frank.

“It’s not always a good high.” Frank replies.

Gerard sits up and leans his head on Frank’s shoulder. Frank begins to kiss his neck, and before he knows it their mouths are against each other's. Frank starts to lift off Gerard’s shirt, but Gerard tenses up.

“Is this okay?” Frank asks.

“Yeah.” Gerard replies.

Frank’s hands find Gerard’s hips and he guides him over to sit on his lap, then Frank begins to laugh.

“What?” Gerard asks.

“I can literally taste blood from the cut on your lip.” Frank says.

“And who’s fault it that?” Gerard responds.

“Well, technically, your mom’s because she called you.” 

“Yeah, well she isn’t the one who bit my lip.” He says.

“True. That’s my job.” Frank answers as he kisses Gerard again.

As if on cue from their conversation, Gerard’s phone rings. Luckily nobody is hurt this time.

“Seriously dude?” Frank asks, pulling away from Gerard.

“Fuck. It’s not my fault.” He replies.

“Put that shit on silent when we’re doing this stuff.” Frank says, laughing a little. For some reason Gerard really likes the way Frank says “when we do this stuff.”

“Tell your mom you’re with your boyfriend and you can’t talk right now.” Frank says as he scoots closer to Gerard who is sitting up on the couch. He wraps his arms around his waist while Gerard looks at his phone.

“It’s not my mom. It’s my brother. I should probably call him back.” Gerard says. Frank looks at him and gives him a pouty face. Gerard dials Mikey’s number.

“Mikey. What’s up?” Gerard says. 

“Gerard, I need your help. I’m sort of in a little trouble.” He says.

“What? What’s wrong?” Gerard asks.

“I don’t have enough time to explain the full story. To make it short I was at a party and some people started doing some pretty stupid and illegal shit. I wasn’t involved, but the cops showed up and arrested everyone there. Wrong place wrong time. Gerard, you need to help me.” Mikey tells him, speaking really fast.

“Where are you?” Gerard asks.

“For now, the local station by my school. You can’t tell mom. I just need you to get me out of here, you’re my one call.” He says.

“Don’t tell mom? Are you kidding me, Mikey? What do you want me to do? Hop on a plane to California right now and get you out of there? Sorry, but I kinda have to tell mom or else you’re gonna be there a while.” Gerard says.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. Fuck. She’s gonna be so mad.” Mikey panics.

“Don’t worry. You just told me you weren’t really involved in what was happening. She’ll understand. I’ll go call her.” Gerard says. 

“Thanks Gerard.” Mikey says.

Gerard hangs up the phone and turns to Frank. 

“Shit.” Gerard says.

“What’s up with your brother?” Frank asks.

“Nothing really. He was just arrested.”


	12. We Don't Need Another Call From California

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry we haven't updated in a long time!!!
> 
> we had finals last week so we didn't have a lot of time to write  
> ///  
> we'll get back to writing regularly soon!! thank you
> 
> -partypoisns

“Arrested?” Frank wonders, “And you never told me you had a brother?”

“Yeah, his name's Mikey," Gerard says, "I can’t believe he just got fucking arrested."

“Sounds like he wasn’t involved though. So who’s gonna bail him out?” Frank asks curiously.

“I have no idea. He said I was his one call so all his friends were probably arrested at the party too,” Gerard sighs and puts his head in his hands. 

“Dude, I’m sure we’ll figure this out. If all else fails, we can take a nice vacation to California,” Frank smiles and kisses Gerard’s knuckles, “It’ll be okay.”

“Fuck. I know. I’m just gonna be super stressed out about this for a while. You know how I am,” Gerard smiles wearily. 

Frank smiles back at him reassuringly and leans in to kiss him.

“I think I know how to make you feel a little less stressed,” Frank winks and it sends Gerard reeling. 

Frank takes a fistful of Gerard’s shirt and pushes him onto his bed, but before he can manage to get on top of him, Gerard blurts out, “I- I have to call my mom. I have to tell her about Mikey. I said I would call her after I talked to him.”

“Just for a little while,” Frank hovers over Gerard’s lips, “Please.”

“Later,” Gerard looks straight into Frank’s eyes, “After I do this.”

“Fine,” Frank gets up and trudges to another room.

Gerard sits up, readjusts his shirt, wipes his hand over his lips, and calls his mom, not-so-ready to tell her the news about Mikey’s arrest. 

She answers at the second ring. 

“Hey,” she says cheerfully, “Where are you?”

“I’m at Frank’s, but that’s not important. I have something I need to tell you.”

“Yeah?” She asks, confused.

“Uh,” Gerard can’t find the words, “Um- Mikey got arrested.”

Gerard waits for a response for more than a few seconds, until he can hear his mom sigh over the line.

“What’s the story?” She asks.

“He was at some party and he told me things got a little out of control and the cops showed up. Apparently they arrested everybody,” Gerard tells her. 

“Jeez,” she says, “does he have anyone to bail him out?”

“Nope.”

“Great.”

Frank walks into the room and stands at the door, staring at Gerard and pouting, clearly wanting him to get off the phone.

Gerard mouths “fuck off” and Frank slowly goes back into the other room.

“Looks like you have to go get him out,” Gerard’s mom says.

“What? Me?” Gerard stammers, “Why the hell do I have to do it?”

“He’s your brother, Gerard. He looks up to you and he’ll probably be glad to see you,” she says.

“Pretty sure he doesn’t look up to me,” Gerard says angrily. 

“Anyway, I’ll pay for your ticket and everything else. You can leave whenever you want. Good luck,” she hangs up the phone.

“Fuck,” Gerard yells and throws his phone across the room. 

Frank hears the noise and runs into the room, “What the hell was that?”

“Threw my phone,” Gerard says, “Turns out I actually do have to go to California to bail Mikey out.”

“Oh, great,” Frank says sarcastically, “I’m coming with you though.”

“No, no you’re not. I’m not gonna make you pay for a plane ticket and all that shit.”

“Oh, hell yes you are,” Frank smirks, “Oh come on. It’ll be fun. Plus, we can get a hotel room all to ourselves for a little while and do whatever… we… want…”   
Gerard gulps. 

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Frank laughs.


	13. Would You Bail Me Out If I Need It?

It wasn’t long until Frank had completely convinced Gerard to let him go, and they were on a non-stop flight to California. 

“I’ve never flown before. I’m kinda scared.” Gerard says. He looks over at Frank who is getting something out of his bag. 

“You don’t need to be scared. I’m right here. And... we’ll be at our hotel room soon. All alone.” Frank whispers in his ear. Gerard closes his eyes at the thought of being alone with Frank for 3 entire nights.

“None of that yet. We have to deal with Mikey first. Once his situation is better we’ll have time to relax.” Gerard says.

“Lets see if you still have that attitude when we get to the hotel.” Frank replies, making contact with Gerard’s ear when he whispers in it.

The flight is long. Gerard wants to sleep but Frank won’t let him. He keeps whispering things in his ear that made Gerard go crazy, but he has to keep himself calm on the plane. Finally they land and find their rental car, and make their trip to the hotel to put away their things. 

Frank didn’t waste any time. As soon as Gerard shut the door after entering their room, Frank dropped his bags and grabbed Gerard, pushing him onto the bed. 

“Frank...please. I need to do...stuff.” Gerard can barely get the words out with Frank kissing up and down his neck. 

“I won’t take too long.” Frank says.

“No, seriously Frank. You know I want to, but Mikey. I have to read through the paperwork and make sure my mom got the money sent. Then I have to contact our lawyer. His court appearance is tomorrow, Frank. I’m worried about him.” Gerard says.

“Hey.” Frank stops kissing him and sits up on the bed, Gerard follows his lead. “Everything is gonna be okay. Mikey will be fine and back in school. We’ll fly back to New York. Everything will be okay, I promise. I’m right here.” Frank says.

Gerard leans over and rests his head on Frank’s shoulder. They sit like this for a while before Gerard has to get up to make calls and fill out forms. Eventually Gerard falls asleep at the desk in the corner of the hotel room. Frank brings him to the bed and puts him under the blankets before crawling in next to him. He leans over to kiss his head, his dark hair falling in his eyes. 

“I’ll always be here.” Frank whispers. He knows Gerard can’t hear him, but he says it anyway. 

The alarm clock goes off right on time. 8am gives them plenty of time to get prepared for today. The money is set, the paperwork is done, all Gerard has to do is show up and hope Mikey can pull it together. 

They arrive at the hearing, and Frank goes to sit down in the room while Gerard sees Mikey. 

“Gerard!” Mikey calls.

Gerard sees his brother and walks over, wrapping him in a huge hug.

“I missed you...you little shit.” Gerard says. 

“Excuse me?” Mikey says jokingly.

“Yeah, I said it. You’re an asshole who got himself arrested and made his mom and brother deal with his shit, all because he was drunk at a stupid party. You’re an idiot, but I still love you and I missed you.” Gerard says.

“Seriously. Thank you, Gerard, for doing this.” Mikey says.

“What are brothers for?” Gerard replies and pushes Mikey’s shoulder. 

The hearing starts, and Mikey makes his case in front of the judge. His lawyer talks, the officers from the party talk. It all ends, and somehow it went okay. Mikey is no longer in legal trouble and the charges are dropped. On the other hand, he is expelled from his school. He will have to return to New York and decide what to do from there. 

Gerard finds Frank, who gives him a hug.

“I told you everything would be okay.” Frank says.


	14. Hotel California

Gerard smiles and puts his head on Frank’s shoulder. 

“I’m so glad that’s over,” he says. 

“Me too. I couldn’t stand seeing you so stressed out,” Frank smiles.

When they separate from each other, Gerard can see Mikey walking towards them. 

“Oh!” Gerard exclaims, “You two haven’t met yet!” 

“Yeah,” Frank says. “I’m Frank.” He holds out his hand to Mikey, who shakes it.

“I’m Mikey. But you probably know that by now.” Mikey says.

“Yeah. I do.” Frank replies.

Gerard stands there confused about the shade his brother and Frank seem to have towards each other. 

“Well, I’m hungry. Do you guys wanna grab lunch? We’re here two more nights anyway.” Gerard asks. 

“Actually I should probably get back to school and grab my stuff. My expulsion is effective immediately.”

“Yeah...okay. Text me when you’re done.”

“Okay.” Mikey says. He turns around and walks away. 

“What was that about?” Gerard asks, befuddled. 

“What?” Frank replies. 

“That weird vibe between you and Mikey. Are we just gonna ignore what just happened?” Gerard asks.

Frank looks at Gerard confusedly and says, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I think you just imagined it.”

“Yeah you’re right,” Gerard says sarcastically, “I fucking imagined it. Whatever.”

Do Mikey and Frank have a problem with each other? Gerard thinks to himself. 

Later at the hotel, things have calmed down between Frank and Gerard. They’re both lying on the one bed in the room, which Frank specifically asked for.

Frank scooches over to Gerard and lays his head on his shoulder. 

“I’m so glad today is over. Now we have more time to ourselves,” Frank whispers in Gerard’s ear. 

“Frank,” Gerard stutters, “W-we can’t do this here.” 

“Why not?” Frank asks, his mouth hovering over Gerard’s neck. 

“If we get carried away, before we know it, our first time will have been in a trashy hotel room in California. I would prefer it to be in a place I’m comfortable with,” Gerard says. 

“Whoa, whoa, I know. I wasn’t even thinking about sex. I’d rather just-” Frank kisses Gerard’s lips mid-sentence, “-fool around tonight.” 

“Oh,” Gerard pines as Frank leaves a trail of kisses down his neck.

“More?” Frank asks patiently.

“Yes,” Gerard assures, “please.” 

“Good,” Frank says and briskly moves one of his hands down to Gerard’s belt and pulls them closer to each other.

They’re now the closest they’ve ever been and Gerard can feel Frank’s stomach rising and falling along with his, their unsteady breaths almost in sync. He can also feel Frank’s crotch against his own. 

Gerard suddenly decides to move his hand so it separates the space between them. He slides his hand over the front of Frank’s pants and he groans, hips pushing forward into the pressure as Gerard rubs him through the fabric. 

When Frank moans again, Gerard realizes that he loves the reaction he’s getting out of him. He decides to move Frank’s hand to the fabric of his own jeans, his breath hitching as Frank circles his palm over the front of his crotch. 

“You like taking control like that, don’t you?” Frank smirks, his hand still rubbing at the front of Gerard's pants. 

“Ah- Mhm,” Gerard hums, unable to form a proper sentence. 

"Yeah?" Frank asks, "It's my turn now." 

Frank swiftly moves so he's straddling Gerard on the bed and begins to grind his hips over their clothes. 

Minutes later, Frank is still on top of Gerard, hips moving and grinding in sync with their erratic breaths, until Gerard thinks it's time to stop for the night.

"F-Frankie," Gerard manages to get out, "I think that's enough." 

Frank is disappointed when he demounts himself, but he understands. 

Later after they'd washed up, they lie in bed together for a while until Frank says, "And by the way, our first time is gonna blow your fucking mind."

“You’re so fucking lame,” Gerard laughs and hits Frank with a pillow.   
Minutes later, they're both fast asleep, bodies intertwined.


	15. Your Running Mouth Falls On Deaf Ears

Not having to wake up for anything, the two boys sleep in, only waking up when Gerard’s phone rings. He pulls himself out of Frank’s embrace trying not to wake him and leans over to grab his phone. 

“Hello?” Gerard says into the phone.

“Hey, it’s Mikey. I got my ticket to get back to New York. I leave the day after tomorrow, so you guys will be home before me. I told mom everything and she's fine with me staying at home until I figure out what to do.” Mikey says.

“That’s great. Where are you now?” Gerard asks.

“I slept at my friend’s apartment. Since I know you and Frank are sharing a hotel room, and trust me, I want no part of that.” Mikey replies.

“What the fuck is wrong with you two? I fly out here to California to bail your ass out and you repay me by being a dick? You and Frank have barely even met each other and there’s already something weird between you guys.” Gerard says. 

Frank rolls over to look at Gerard when he hears his name in the conversation.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I gotta go. I’ll see you at home I guess.” Mikey says.

Gerard hangs up without saying goodbye to his brother. He gets up out of bed and makes his way to the bathroom. He can hear Frank following him.

“Dude, what was that?” Frank asks.

“You tell me. How the fuck can you and Mikey be so weird with each other having only spoken once?” Gerard replies. 

Frank sits on the edge of the counter. 

“Okay. Gerard look. Mikey and I sort of know each other? I think? I mean we never met. I had this...friend, and we sort of ended on a bad note. Anyway, he moved to California and goes to Mikey’s school. I knew he had a friend named Mikey, he would talk about him occasionally, but I never really put the two together until we got here. That guy hates me Gerard. I wonder if he’s been saying shit about me to Mikey.” Frank explains.

“How is this even possible? What could you have done that would make this guy hate you so much?” Gerard asks, clearly confused about this situation. 

“I was a really different person back then, Gerard. I would get into a lot of trouble. I never hurt anybody, at least not intentionally. I was just...a mess. I’m cleaned up now.” Frank says. 

“Cleaned up how? What did you even do?” Gerard replies.

“Gerard, we don’t need to get into this right now.” Frank says.

“Oh, you’re right. We don’t need to get into this. It’s not like my boyfriend has obviously done some pretty serious shit in his life and isn’t telling me about it. I’m sure it’s no big deal.” Gerard says, his voice filled with sarcasm.

“I’ll explain. Just not now. We’re on a vacation and-” Gerard cuts him off.

“A vacation? Coming to California to bail my brother out of prison, only to find out he knows some sketch shit about my boyfriend that he refuses to tell me is a vacation?” Gerard almost yells. Frank stays silent. 

“Could you leave the bathroom, Frank? I’m gonna take a shower.” Gerard says.

Frank gets up off the counter and leaves the bathroom. 

Gerard shuts and locks the door. He turns the water on and removes his clothes. He stands under the warm water and tries to fathom the things he’s just heard. What could Frank, the small, silly boy he knew could have done that was so bad? How could he and Mikey have a mutual friend? Why had Frank been so weird about saying the word “friend”?

Gerard finishes washing his hair and steps out of the shower. He dries off, puts his clothes on, and goes back into the main room. He expects to see Frank, but for some reason, he isn’t there. He calls Frank but there’s no answer. Gerard starts to panic. He wouldn’t know what to do with himself if something happened to Frank and they left it on a bad note. He gets dressed in clothes other than his pajamas and grabs the keys to the rental car. Before he can get out the door, his phone rings. 

“Frank, where the fuck did you go? I almost started freaking out.” Gerard says.

“I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m just at the coffee shop down the street. I’ll be back in 15 minutes. We need to talk...or I guess i need to talk, to you. I’ll explain everything, Gerard, I promise. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you trust me.” Frank says.

“Okay, see you in a bit.”


	16. Until The End Of Time

When Frank gets back, he finds Gerard pacing back and forth in the hotel room. He quickly makes his way to Gerard’s side and apologizes for what happened earlier. 

Gerard smiles hesitantly and sits down at the small table in the room. 

Frank sits down across from him. “I need to talk to you. I haven’t been completely truthful and I want to make sure you completely trust me.”

“Geez,” Gerard pouts as he adjusts himself in the chair, “Is it really this big of a deal?”

Frank nods his head slowly. 

“Okay,” Gerard says, “Spit it out.”

Frank clears his throat.

“A few years ago I did some really bad shit. I got my hands on meth and cocaine and hung out with a super bad crowd. We broke into anything that could be broken into; houses, banks, stores, schools, you name it. I also had these hellish anger flashes. When my dealer didn’t give me what I wanted, I would beat him up, which of course led to groups of his friends coming after me and and beating me up in return.”

“Jesus, Frank,” Gerard comments. 

“Shh, I’m not finished,” Frank replies, “We never got in trouble for anything we did until my boyfriend at the time, Jack, ratted us out. He couldn’t deal with the guilt so he went and told the police what we had done. I’m so thankful of what he did now, but I was extremely pissed back then. A group of my friends and I spent some time in jail and when we got out, most of them were furious with Jack, including me. They tried to find him and make him regret what he had done, but I heard through a friend that he’d moved to California.” 

Gerard stares at him in disbelief.

Frank continues, “So, after I got out of jail I stopped hanging out with those people and breaking into places. I found a small apartment away from that scene and got a job at Moonjune. The reason I know Jack had a friend named Mikey is because I was the only one who was still Facebook friends with him after the-” 

Frank struggles to find his words, “the incident. I knew he didn’t want anything to do with me, but a part of me still wanted to know what was happening in his life. He would post a lot about his life in California, which included pictures of him and Mikey.”

Frank paused. 

“And I just knew, Gerard. I knew he told Mikey all the bad shit I did. They seemed like best friends. I mean, who wouldn’t tell their best friends about their exes? I know for a fact that Jack was one to talk.”

Frank stops for a moment so Gerard can get a word in.

“Oh my god, Frank. This is huge,” Gerard says, looking like he’s about to fucking cry, which makes Frank feel like complete shit. 

“I know. I know this is hard for you and I don’t expect you to take this easily. I-” 

Gerard cuts him off, his breathing rate increasing by the second, “No, no, no. Frank, my fucking dad overdosed on crack. He’s fucking dead because of that shit. I was fifteen when I lost him Frank. Fifteen.”

“Oh my god,” Frank shudders, “Gerard, I’m so so sorry. I had no idea.”

Frank moves his chair so that it’s next to Gerard’s and puts his arms around him. 

“I’m so sorry,” he repeats as Gerard puts his face on Frank’s shoulder. 

“Please,” Gerard sobs, “Please don’t ever do those things again. If I ever lose you- oh god, If I ever lose you, I would fucking die.” 

“I’m never leaving,” Frank tells him, “I’ll be here ‘till the end of time.”

“Fucking promise me. I need you to fucking promise me that you’ll never do that again,” Gerard cries and buries his head deeper into Frank’s shoulder. 

“I promise,” Frank says in the most sincere way possible. 

“Th- Thank you,” Gerard sniffles and wipes his tears away with his oversized sleeves. 

Frank puts his hand on Gerard’s cheek, helping him wipe the tears. He slowly kisses him with the most passion and Gerard kisses back with the same fervor. Frank can feel Gerard smiling through it.

“Everything is gonna be okay,” Frank says as they break away from each other.


	17. A Car, a Torch, a Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys i know it's been so long since we've posted but we're pickin' it back up and we're gonna post again soon!!!  
> hope you enjoy :)

After Frank showers, they decide to go on the town.

In the taxi-cab, Gerard won’t stop complaining. 

“Why do we have to go out? Why can’t we just stay inside and watch a movie or something?” Gerard whines. 

“C’mon!” Frank says cheerfully, “It’ll be fun to get some fresh air.”

When they get out of the cab, Gerard is still hesitant about being out.

“Maybe if we get something to eat you’ll feel better,” Frank says.

“Fine,” Gerard replies. 

They walk a short distance to a small restaurant and get a table for two.

After they eat, Gerard’s mood improves.

“Told you getting a bite to eat would make you happier,” Frank comments. 

Gerard smiles, “So, what’s there to do for fun in Los Angeles?”

“Well,” Frank smirks, “We could go check out the Walk of Fame.”

“I guess that sounds enjoyable,” Gerard says.

“You guess?” Frank says.

“Well, yeah. I mean, I don’t care.” 

“Look, I’m not gonna make you do anything you don’t want to do, but you’re making this difficult for no reason. I thought it’d be fun to go out together and have some fun, okay?” Frank says. 

“I know, Frank. Sometimes I just have trouble getting used to new places. We can do whatever you want, honestly. I’m up for it. I’ll be a good sport about it,” Gerard assures. 

“So you’re cool with going to the Walk of Fame?” Frank says again. 

“Perfectly cool,” Gerard replies.

When they get to the Walk of Fame, the first thing Gerard sees is David Bowie’s star. 

“Holy shit,” Gerard yells and gets closer to it.

“Frank, I’m freaking out,” Gerard sits on the floor, “Please take my picture with it.”

Frank reaches for his phone out of his pocket and pulls it out, “Okay, okay.”

After Frank snaps the picture, he looks at it and smiles.

“What?” Gerard asks as he stands up.

“I really like this picture. I think I’m gonna set it as my lockscreen,” Frank says.

Gerard looks closely at the picture, “I like incredibly horrible, but do whatever you want.”

Frank looks at Gerard, his eyes wide.

“You do not!” He yells and playfully hits him on the back of the head.

\--

For the rest of the day, they walk around the L.A. streets hand in hand, stopping to look at things and taking pictures of each other. When it started to get dark they decided it was time to get back to the hotel since they need to catch their flight in the morning. 

When they get back to the hotel room, they were exhausted. The changed, packed up a little, and fell asleep instantly. 

Frank and Gerard had to get up extremely early to catch their morning flight. The ride to the airport is quiet because of how tired they both are. 

They get to the airport and wait in their gate before they begin boarding. Frank falls asleep on Gerard’s shoulder while they wait.

“Frankie, we’re about to board. you gotta get up.” Gerard says, nudging his shoulder.

“Alright, I’m up.” He replies.

They gather their bags and get on the plane. 

Once on the plane they find their seats and stow their bags in the overhead compartments. 

“You aren’t scared this time, Gerard?” Frank asks.

“Nah, I’ll be okay.” He replies. 

“Okay.” Frank says as he grabs his hand. 

\--

The flight back to New York is smooth. They get into Frank’s car at the airport and he drives Gerard home.

“Feels weird that we aren’t spending another night together.” Frank sighs as Gerard gets out of the car.

“Yeah,” Gerard says, “I’m gonna miss you tonight.”

“Me too.” 

Frank watches as Gerard slowly walks up his steps.

“Hey wait.” Frank says.

“Yeah?” Gerard replies as Frank gets out of his car and comes running towards him. 

Frank walks over to Gerard and puts his hands on his hips. He slowly moves in and kisses him. Gerard reaches his hand up to Frank’s face and runs his hand through his hair. Frank pulls away and looks at Gerard. 

“I’ll call you tomorrow after work. You can come over or something.” He says.

“Okay.” Gerard smiles and turns around to walk into his house.


	18. Where Were You While We Were Getting High?

Gerard wakes up in his own room, without Frank for the first time in 3 days. 

He sits up in his bed and looks to his side, expecting to see Frank cuddling up next to him, but is disappointed by the sight of ruffled sheets.

As he reluctantly gets out of bed, he checks his phone to see if Frank had tried to contact him. He has one text from him that says “at work. come when you want.” 

Gerard rolls out of bed and pulls on some jeans and a hoodie, not bothering to brush his hair, so it falls in his face and over his eyes. He grabs his keys and wallet and starts walking to Frank’s store. When he arrives he walks inside and looks for Frank who is usually behind the counter, but he’s not there. Gerard checks the shelving area but he’s nowhere to be seen.

“Hey Gerard.” Someone says behind him. He turns around to see Ray Toro standing behind him. 

“Oh, hey Ray. Do you know where Frank is?” Gerard asks.

“Last time I saw him he was in the back room. You can go in there if you want.” Ray replies.

“Cool. Thanks, Ray.” Gerard replies. He walks into the back room and sees Frank seated at a desk, his chair turned facing the other way, unable to see Gerard. Gerard thinks about sneaking over and scaring him, but he notices Frank is on the phone. Frank sounds angry. He says stuff into the phone like “leave me the fuck alone” and  
“I’m different now.”

Gerard tries to quietly back out of the room to leave Frank to finish his call. As he walks out of the room he trips over a box of unshelved albums on the floor. The box spills over and Gerard hits the floor, hard. The whole scene causes quite a racket. 

“...fucking kidding me.” Gerard mumbles. Frank leaves the office to inspect the noise, baffled when he sees Gerard among the mess. 

“Gee..?” Frank asks.

“...someone should probably...shelve those.” Gerard says as he tries to stand up. 

“What are you doing back here?” Frank asks.

“You weren’t out front, Ray told me-”

“Damn, Ray.” Frank cuts him off.

“What?” Gerard asks refused.

“I told him I was making a phone call.” Frank replies, clearly annoyed.

“I asked if he’d seen you and he told me. Why the fuck are you flipping out?” Gerard snaps.

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” Frank says. He walks over and kisses Gerard on the cheek, “Just wasn’t a phone call I was expecting.” He follows up.

“Who was it?” Gerard asks.

“About that… can you grab Ray for me to see if he’ll cover my shift. I need to gather my stuff then we can get out of here. We need to talk.” Frank says.

“Uh, yeah. sure.” Gerard replies as he leaves the room. 

Luckily Ray agrees to cover. They head back to Frank’s apartment. When the get there they sit down on the couch. Without wasting any time at all Frank starts spewing. 

“That was Jack on the phone. Gerard, he’s moving here with Mikey. They wanna get a place together and be roommates. Jack’s switching schools to enter the music business. He said Mikey’s just gonna take his last year of classes somewhere down here. Jack still hates me. Part of the reason he’s moving down here is to ‘protect’ Mikey. What does that even mean?”

“Fuck, this is bad.” Gerard replies as he pulls his head down to his knees. “How can Jack just drop everything to come down here with Mikey? Doesn’t that seem a little weird?”

“Weird as fuck is what it is.” Frank replies.

“Mikey comes home tomorrow. I’m not ready for this.” Gerard panics. Frank leaves the room and comes back with a little box. He opens it revealing a lighter, some paper, and a bag of what looks like weed. Again.

“Really, Frank?” Gerard says. 

“I’m a cardholder for a reason dude. I’m stressed out, so I’m gonna get fuckin’ baked.” Frank replies.

“Remember what happened last time?” Gerard pleads. 

“You could have just has a bad trip. Maybe it will be different this time. Either way, I’m not forcing you to smoke with me.” Frank replies.

“Well, in this small ass apartment I don’t have much of an option.” Gerard replies.

“You’re right.” Frank says, as he closes the box. “I won’t.”

“You know what? It’s okay. Go ahead. I’ll join you.” Gerard says.

“No you don’t have to. I can wait.” Frank demands.

“I want to, really.”

A few minutes later they’re on Frank’s couch. Apartment once again thick with smoke and the scent of marijuana. Gerard’s trip is different this time. He feels sleepy and giggly. 

Suddenly, objects as simple as a lamp are extraordinary.

“Dude.” Gerard says. “How does it do that?” He asks as he repeatedly turns the lamp on and off. 

“I’m telling you, witchcraft, motherfucker!” Frank yells.

“It must be!” Gerard yells back.

`Gerard’s phone begins to ring causing them both to jump. After being temporarily confused, Gerard realizes he’s getting a call.

“Gerard.” He says into the phone. 

“Hey. It’s Mikey.” Mikey says on the other end.

“Mikey! What’s good little bro?” Gerard laughs into the phone.

“Gerard?” Mikey says.

“We just went over this, Mikey! I already said I’m Gerard!” He slurs.

“Are you...High?” Mikey asks.

“High? No way! I’m on Frank’s couch, it’s pretty low to the ground actually.” Gerard replies.

“Frank. That explains it. Is this the shit you do with him. Smoke? Get so high you can’t function? Get the fuck away from this guy, Gerard.” Mikey yells.

“Frankie? Noooo, Frank’s on the couch too. He’s not high. And I’m not the one who got expelled because of a huge party.” Gerard laughs. 

“I knew he was a disgusting influence on you. I’ll make fucking sure you leave him,” Mikey says right before he hangs up.

“Yo, who was that?” Frank asks. 

“Mikey Way!” Gerard says.

“What’d he want?” Frank asked.

“Just sayin’ some shit about you.” Gerard replies.

“What did he say?” Frank exclaims.

“Somethin’ about me leaving you.” Gerard replies. 

Frank picks up his phone and leaves the room.


	19. I Was Always Looking Left And Right

“Wait, Frank!” Gerard yells towards the direction Frank went. 

No response. 

“Frankie,” Gerard giggles, “You don’t hafta get so worked up about this.”

In the other room, Frank is angrily dialing Mikey’s number. 

“Fuck this guy,” Frank says under his breath, “Just because he’s my boyfriend’s fucking brother doesn’t mean he can mess with us.”

When Gerard walks through the door, Frank already has the phone up to his ear, waiting for Mikey to answer. 

When he doesn’t answer, Frank dials again. 

“Pick up, you motherfucker,” Frank breathes.

“Frank!” Gerard yells.

Frank shushes him and Mikey finally answers.

“What do you want?” Mikey asks Frank angrily.

Gerard can hear him through the phone and screams, “please don’t be mean!”

Frank ignores Gerard’s comment.

“You think I’m a bad fucking influence on your brother? Last time I checked, you’re the one who got arrested for partying too hard,” Frank says.

“Dude, fuck y-” Mikey starts, but Frank cuts him off.

“And not to mention, we’re the ones who flew to California to save your ass.”

“I could’ve done it without you, you prick. And you didn’t even need to come. My brother doesn’t need you following him around like a little puppy,” Mikey snarks.

“Fuck you. I don’t follow him around like a pup-”

“Holy shit!” Mikey yells.

“What?” Frank asks before he hears a loud crash and several car horns beeping.

After a while, the line goes dead.

“What happened?” Gerard asks as Frank slowly lowers the phone from his ear. 

Frank thinks for a moment before answering.

“Gerard,” he says, “call fucking 911. I think Mikey just got in a car crash.”

“Frank,” Gerard says hesitantly, “What the fuck did you just say?”

“I heard-” Frank starts, “I heard a crash.”

“It could’ve been anything,” Gerard says and puts his face in his hands, “It could’ve been anything,” he repeats. 

“I swear to Christ it wasn’t. If you’re not gonna call 911, I will,” Frank yells as he quickly types the three digits into his phone.

After Frank gets off the phone, he notices that Gerard has left the room. When he walks into the other room, he sees Gerard pacing back and forth, dialing Mikey’s number over and over.

“Gerard,” Frank says and walks over to him, “he’s not gonna pick up. We just have to wait for the paramedics to contact us and tell us what happened.”

He puts his hand on Gerard’s shoulder, but he shrugs it off.

“Get the fuck away from me! If you never called him, this wouldn’t have happened!” Gerard cries.

“Gerard, I’m sorry,” Frank says, “I was just upset-”

“I told you to fuck off!” Gerard screams and throws his phone.

“Okay, okay,” Frank says, “I’ll be in the other room waiting for the paramedics to call.”

When Frank leaves the room, a million thoughts start to run through Gerard’s head. He starts pacing back and forth around the room, waiting for Frank to run into the room and tell him everything’s okay.

“What if he’s really hurt?” Gerard says to himself, “What if- what if I never get to see my brother again?”

Gerard immediately starts to cry, but stops himself when Frank walks into the room, holding the phone up to his ear.   
“Got it. Thank you. Bye,” Frank says into the phone.

When Frank hangs up, Gerard asks him what happened.

Frank looks at him worriedly and says, “It’s not good. Mikey’s in bad shape.”

“Shit,” Gerard sobs, “shit, shit, shit, shit.”

Gerard slowly falls to the ground and continues to swear under his breath.

Frank frowns and sits on the floor next to him.

“The good news is, he’s being transferred here,” Frank says, “I’m so sorry this happened, Gerard. As much as I dislike your brother, I never wanted this to happen.”  
“Fuck off,” Gerard cries, “You’re fucking ecstatic that this is happening.”

“How could you even say that? I may be inconsiderate but I’m not fucking cold-hearted,” Frank fumes and gets up off of the ground. 

“I can’t deal with you anymore. If the paramedics call again, give them my number,” Gerard storms out of Frank’s house. 

When Gerard gets home, he tells his mom about Mikey and how he’s being transferred back home to see them. 

She doesn’t take it well, but Gerard isn’t in the mood for any more emotions other than his own, so he decides to stay in his room, awaiting possible calls from the paramedics. 

He eventually falls asleep surrounded by used tissues after crying for a few hours.


	20. Remember When You And I Would Make Things Up? - Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is part one (in gerard's pov). part two (franks pov) will continue in chapter 21. :)

Gerard wakes up at the unbearable hour of 5 A.M. His mom comes in to tell him Mikey is in their local hospital, and to get ready because she’s leaving right now. He pulls on some jeans and a hoodie and grabs his phone, checking for any texts hopefully from Mikey, but instead sees 7 from Frank all which he ignores. 

When they get to the hospital and find Mikey’s room, Gerard almost falls to the ground at the sight of his little brother. His face is barely recognizable, covered in purple bruises and cuts. He’s hooked up to multiple machines and covered in all sorts of bruises. The doctor says the car must have flipped multiple times.

“Will he make it?” Gerard’s mom asks.

“We’re doing everything we can, Ms. Way.” The doctor says.

Tears build up in her eyes and she buries her face in Gerard’s shoulder. 

“How could this have even happen?” She cries.

“I don’t know.” Gerard says. He feels like he’s lying to her, but decides not to tell her Frank was arguing with him over phone when it happened. 

Gerard’s phone buzzes, revealing a text from Frank.

coming to the hospital it says. 

This is the last thing Gerard wants. His anger towards Frank is covering up all the good he feels towards him. Why couldn’t he have controlled himself? He always has to act on impulse, not thinking about how his actions could affect other people. Gerard doesn’t want even look at him.

He might not have a brother anymore because of him.


	21. Remember When You And I Would Make Things Up? - Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry

When Frank sees Gerard at the hospital, it feels like someone is kicking him in the stomach. His eyes are red from crying, with puffy purple bags under them from lack of sleep. He looks disheveled and sad, and all Frank wants is to hug him and tell him it will be okay.

But he doesn’t even know that.

He knows Gerard blames him for the accident, and in a way, he’s right. He knows he didn’t have to call Mikey and make the situation worse, after all, his call caused the crash. But Mikey didn’t have to answer. He was driving, he should have known it was a bad idea to pick up. Still, he can’t handle how upset Gerard is with him. 

“Gerard,” Frank says. “just listen to me-”

“Frank, why are you even here?” Gerard says.

“I wanted to see you, and see Mikey.” He replies.

“See Mikey?” Gerard almost laughs. “Pretty sure the only reason you want to see him is because you’re happy about what you’ve caused.” Gerard says.

“You can’t blame this all on me.” Frank answers.

“You were just too fucking concerned I’d leave you that you had to turn to drastic measures.” Gerard yells.

“Drastic measures? You’re acting like I’m the guy who hit him! I made a phone call-” He’s cut off.

“A phone call that could end his life.” The way Gerard says it hurts Frank. He can see tears in Gerard’s eyes.

“Gerard,” Frank tries to speak.

“You’ve done enough. Just leave. Please, Frank. Just leave.” Gerard says. 

He’s crying even harder now. Even though Frank knows it’s not right for Gerard to blame him, he can’t help but feel bad for Gerard. 

“Just let me talk to you.” Frank says.

“Just get the fuck out of here!” Gerard yells. He moves forward and shoves Frank, who stumbles backwards and almost falls to the ground.

“You can’t do this to me, Gerard.” Frank says, now crying.

“Why haven’t you fucking left yet?” Gerard says. He attempts to move towards Frank again, but one of the waiting room people grabs him.

“Sir, calm down.” He says to Gerard.

“It’s okay.” Frank says. The guy lets go of Gerard and walks away.

“I’m never gonna talk to him again, am I?” Gerard whispers.

“I’m sorry this happened.” Frank says. 

Gerard turns around and walks back into Mikey’s room. 

Frank goes home. He knows Gerard doesn’t want him at the hospital, and right now, he needs to do everything he can to make things easier on Gerard.   
When he gets home he lies down on his bed and tries to think about something else, but his mind is spinning. He hears Mikey yell when the crash happens over and over again. He feels Gerard push him. His phone beeping pulls him out of his trance.

It’s a text from Gerard.

"Frank, I fucked up. I can’t blame you for this. I know you hate him but that doesn’t mean you wanted this to happen. Mikey should have known not to pick up while he was driving. I’m sorry."

At first Frank doesn’t know how to reply. He’s relieved Gerard doesn’t blame him anymore. 

He responds. "You’re going through something nobody should ever have to deal with, don’t be sorry."

It’s 7 A.M. and Frank is exhausted. He forces himself to fall asleep, but not for long. 

At 8:30, his phone rings. It’s Gerard. He clicks answer and puts the phone up to his ear.

“Gerard?” He says.

“It’s Mikey.” Gerard says. Frank can tell he’s crying.

“Oh god. Is he okay?” Frank asks.

“No.” Gerard sobs. “Mikey flatlined. The doctors tried to save him but they couldn’t. He’s gone. I lost my little brother.”


	22. Dead!

All Gerard can see is black. Black clothing, black skies, black coffin. This is the first time he doesn’t enjoy seeing it everywhere. 

Gerard can see Frank with his head down, hands folded, and his dark hair falling over his eyes. He looks so damn attractive, but whenever he thinks about him or sees him, all he can think of is the night of the crash. 

Frank glances at him, but he looks away quickly, hoping Frank won’t come over and talk to him. All he wants to focus on is getting through Mikey’s funeral without breaking down. 

As the funeral ends, Gerard manages to skip out and smoke in the secluded part of the cemetery. As he pulls his lighter out, he shivers and accidently drops it into the wet grass. When he tries to pick it up, a hand appears out of nowhere and grasps the lighter.

“Drop something?” Frank asks as he hands it to him.

Gerard snatches the lighter and lights his cigarette.

“Thanks,” Gerard says as he takes a drag.

“No problem. Hey, look-” Frank starts. 

“No, please don’t say anything. I really can’t take having a conversation right now. Honestly, even being around you makes me wanna puke my guts out,” Gerard says.

“Geez Gee,” Frank says, “don’t hold back.”

“I’m not in the mood,” Gerard says. 

There’s a long pause.

“I think we need to stop seeing each other,” Gerard finally says.

“Gerard,” Frank pleads, “you don’t have to do this. We can figure this out. It just takes time.”

“I’m sorry, but every time I look at you all I can think of is Mikey.”

“Isn’t that a good thing? Don’t you wanna remember him?” Frank replies.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Of course I wanna remember him. But I look at you and that’s not what I see. I see a guy who hated him, a guy who called him in an angry rage, the phone call that ended his life. I look in your eyes and all I remember is that night.” Gerard spits.

“You said you don’t blame me.” Frank replies.

“I don’t. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re too painful to be around.” Gerard says.

“So what? This is it?” Frank asks.

“I think it’s best.” Gerard says.

“Yeah, for you maybe.” Frank snaps.

Gerard laughs at the fact Frank had the audacity to make this comment.

“Leave it to you to be a dick at your boyfriend’s brother’s funeral.” Gerard replies.

“I think you mean ex-boyfriend.” Frank says.

“Just leave, Frank. Call Jack, see if he wants to snort some cocaine and get lost in your fucking mess of a life.” Gerard almost yells this. Frank’s expression is a mixture of shock, fear, and betrayal, but most of all he just looks hurt. For some reason, Gerard doesn’t care. 

“Goodbye, Gerard.” Frank says. He shoves his hands in his pockets, turns around, and walks away.

As Frank walks away, Gerard can’t help but feel upset. After all they’ve been through, it ended this way.

He wonders if his comment was too harsh. It’s true, Frank’s life was a mess. Was. He cleaned it up and saying that to him was fucked up, especially when Frank had helped Gerard through so much. But that doesn’t change anything. He still can’t be around him.

He drives back home with his mom. The car ride filled with her quiet crying a nose blowing. He wants to say something to her, but he can’t think of the right thing to say. Instead he reaches over and grabs her hand to hold it as he drives. 

When he gets home his mom goes to take a shower and he goes to his room. He hasn’t been sleeping much, and when he sees his bed he immediately throws himself onto it. He hears a small thud as he realizes he dropped his phone behind his bed.

“Fuck.” he mutters.

He struggles to move his bed over, and when he does, it’s not his phone he reaches for. Covered in dust is the copy of Walk Among Us he bought the first day he saw Frank. He picks up the album, unaware it was even there. It must’ve fallen off the shelf when he wasn’t home. Half of him wants to play it, but the other half of him wants to smash it into pieces. He decides to place it back on the shelf. 

He pushes his bed back against the wall and lays down, waiting for the nightmares to engulf him.


	23. The Night Life's Taking It's Toll

*Frank’s POV [after the funeral]*

~~~

As Frank walks away from Gerard, all he wants to do is run back and apologize for everything he’s done, but he knows it’s too late.

And when he gets in his car, he can’t help but break down.

For the past few months, Gerard had been his entire life. And he had nearly started to forget all the bad things he’d done before, only to mess everything up again. 

“You’re such a fuckup, Frank,” he tells himself, “you’ll never, ever do anything right. You’re a loser.”

He punches the side of the steering wheel. 

“You’re a fucking-, he sobs, “loser.”

After a long cycle of cursing at himself, he starts the car and drives down the road. 

The only thing he can think to do is go to the nearest liquor store. 

When he gets there, he gets the cheapest beer he can find and downs half of one when he gets back in the car. 

By the time he gets back home he’s already stumbling up the steps. He hastily unlocks the front door and falls into the room. 

He laughs as he picks himself up.

“-don’t fucking need you, Gerard,” he mumbles and takes a swig of beer, some of it dribbling down his chin and onto the floor, “’m perfectly fine on my own.”

He sits down on the couch and scrolls through his phone. After a while, he comes across Jack’s contact. 

He knows exactly what he’s going to say when he presses the “call” button. Jack picks up on the second ring and says hello into the phone, clearly confused. 

Frank finishes his beer and he picks up another one from the ground. He takes the cap off and drinks nearly half of it. 

“Frank? Are you… drunk?” Jack asks.

“Yeahhhh. And I have the fuuucking greatest reason to be,” Frank says.

“And you’re calling me because…?” Jack wonders. 

“My fucking boyfriend broke up with me and I saw you at Mikey’s funeral. You looked soo good…,” Frank’s voice cracks and he takes another sip of beer, “I- I need you to come over here and fuck me.”

“Frank-,” Jack starts, but Frank cuts him off.

“And I know you’re grieving about Mikey. Juuuust let me h-help you. I can help you. I can-,” Frank stutters.

“Frank, first of all, I fucking hate you. Second, you’re drunk and not thinking clearly, and third, you have no fucking right to talk about Mikey.”

“Forget about everything for just a second. We don’t fucking have to like each other. You can hate me all you want. Doooooesn’t mean we can’t have sex,” Frank slurs.

“Uh, yeah it does,” Jack snarks.

“C’monnnnn,” Frank pleads, “think about how we used to be.”

“It’s nearly two in the morning, Frank. I’m not in the mood to reminisce with you, out of all people.” 

Frank chugs more beer and taunts, “We always had the best fucking sex. Remember?”

“Don’t fucking start. Don’t fucking start, Frank,” Jack warns.

“I used to do that thing you liked with the-,” Frank starts.

“Iero, I fucking hate you and I’m gonna kill you,” Jack says and takes a long pause.

“I’m coming over right now,” he mutters, “but I still fucking hate you.”

“Fuck yes,” Frank throws his beer to the other side of the room in excitement and it shatters.

“You better clean that shit up before I get there,” Jack says, “and stop drinking. I’m gonna need to have you at least half sober.”

“Not a fucking chance,” Frank says and hangs up the phone.

When Jack gets to his apartment an hour later, everything is a blur. 

When Frank wakes up in the morning, all he can remember is being pushed through the door of his bedroom and angrily pinned down to his bed. When he looks over to his left, he sees Jack fast asleep next to him.

“Shit,” he mumbles.


	24. Your Twisted Words, Your Help Just Hurts

Frank can remember bits and pieces about what what went on last night, but not much. By the looks of Jack laying next to him, he’s happy he doesn’t remember. 

“Fuck.” Frank says, louder than he meant to.

“Well good morning to you too.” Jack replies as he rolls over.

Frank gets out of the bed and stumbles into the kitchen in desperate need of coffee and advil. His head is pounding, his stomach is churning, and all in all he feels like shit. Not far behind is Jack, who walks into the kitchen and sits down on a stool at the bar. 

“Coffee's not gonna cut it,” Jack says, “With a hangover like yours, you’re gonna need something greasy as fuck.”

“No offense, but just you mentioning the word grease makes me wanna puke.” Frank replies, taking a sip of coffee.

Jack sits there silently waiting for Frank to say something. When he doesn’t say anything, Jack decides he’ll be the one to break the silence. 

“Are we gonna talk about last night?” He asks.

“Wasn’t planning on it.” Frank says.

“We’re just gonna pretend we didn’t do what we did?” He says.

“Sounds good to me.” Frank responds.

“Well it doesn’t sound good to me.” Jack replies.

“You really think last night meant anything? I hate you, you hate me. End of story.” Frank snaps.

“Personally, I think hatred just makes the sex better.” Jack says, standing up.

“Well, I disagree.” Jack replies. 

“You seemed to agree last night.” Jack answers, stepping towards Frank.

“I was drunk out of my mind. And If I recall correctly, you were pretty opposed to this at first.” Frank says.

“Yeah, at first. But I’ll admit I was wrong.” Jack says.

Frank doesn’t reply. He grabs his mug and goes to sit down at the couch, Jack following behind him.

“Why did Gerard end it, anyway?” Jack asks.

“I made the call that caused Mikey’s crash. Just the sight of me makes him think of that night. He can’t stand it. We said some pretty awful things to each other, and that’s it. Over.” Frank explains.

“You know you can’t blame yourself for the crash. Mikey was my best friend, but he made the choice to answer the call while he was driving. You didn’t know.” Jack replies.

“Why are you being nice to me?” Frank asks, clearly confused.

“Because I did something really messed up.” Jack answers.

“Care to explain?” Frank snaps.

“I’m well aware you cleaned up your life after what happened, but I still fed lies to Mikey. I told him a bunch of shit about you knowing he would tell Gerard.” Jack says.

“You broke us up on purpose?” Frank yells as he stands up. 

“You realize that makes all of this your fault. Me and Mikey hating each other and fighting, arguing over the phone, it’s all your fault. You caused all of this! Mikey would still be here and Gerard and I would still be together if you kept your worthless mouth shut!” Frank yells this.

“Stop mentioning Gerard. He’s a dick.” Jack says.

“You have absolutely no right to call him that.” Frank retorts. 

“Really? Are you saying he’s not a dick? He blames you for his brother’s death. He can’t get it through his stupid little head that it’s not your fault. He broke your heart and called your life a fucking mess even after all that work you did to clean yourself up.” Jack yells.

“How do you know he said that?” Frank asks.

“Shit Frank. Do you remember anything from last night?” He asks.

“Apparently not.” Frank replies. “I’m done arguing with you. It’s not worth it. My head hurts too much.”

“You’re head hurts? Or are you too afraid to admit that Gerard is fucked up.” Jack answers.

Frank is silent once again. He turns around, unable to look at Jack. Gerard is going through something nobody should ever have to go through, but still, he had unfairly treated Frank like shit. 

“Do something remotely useful and get me another advil.” Frank finally says.

“I know something that will get your mind off of your hangover better than advil will.” Jack answers. He moves behind Frank and starts to kiss his neck.  
“Jack…” Frank says. 

He thinks about Gerard. ‘Go call Jack’ he hears Gerard say again. ‘See if he wants to get involved in your fucking mess of a life.’ Jack is correct, at least somewhat. Gerard knows how hard Frank worked to get cleaned up, and he threw his past at him like he didn’t even care. Suddenly, Frank is angry again, but this time, not at Jack. He turns around and kisses Jack on the mouth.

“Still have a headache?” Jack asks.

“Just shut up.” Frank says. 

“Fine. But I still hate you.” Jack replies, as he pushes Frank onto the couch.


	25. A New Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's been almost two fucking years.

Gerard wakes up with a blinding light penetrating his hazel eyes. 

“Fuck,” he mutters.

He rolls over in his bed and stares at the ceiling. His mind sways and rushes with overwhelming thoughts. 

Frank.

Mikey.

Frank…

Would Gerard ever be able to forgive him? Was it really even Frank’s fault? Gerard doesn’t care. He made the call that killed his brother. He didn’t even seem sorry. He's an asshole.

Gerard gets up out of his bed and opens his blinds further. The sunlight seeps into his room. He stands in it, letting the warmth hug his cheeks.

He hasn’t showered since the funeral, and his dark hair feels thick and greasy. He gets into the shower and washes it. He imagines Frank in the shower with him, soaping up his hands and scrubbing Gerard’s hair and body and trailing lower...lower.

No. He can’t think about Frank like that anymore. He turns the faucet to cold and lets the icy water snap him from his fantasies. 

After toweling off, he pulls on his typical baggy black jeans and hoodie. He stands in front of the mirror and stares at himself. His hair is getting so long that it hangs over his eyes. He goes into his mom’s bathroom and finds her hair scissors. Without much thinking, Gerard cuts his hair. He keeps getting even after his eyes are clearly visible. He wants a change. He needs a change. He picks up the black hair soaking in the sink and runs it through his fingers. His hands find the faucet and he watches the hair spin down the drain.

He looks like a new person. He doesn’t remember the last time he has seen his own hair this short, but he likes it.

His stomach is empty, but cooking is the last thing he wants to do. He leaves his house and stumbles to a coffee shop a few blocks away.

It’s an old brick building with old newspapers and magazines lining the walls. There’s a green couch and several red armchairs all occupied with people enjoying their breakfast.  
The lady at the counter has shoulder length blonde hair, and eyes that were more blue than anything Gerard has ever seen. She wears jeans and a retro looking striped t-shirt with a green apron over it.

“What can I get for you?” She smiles.

“Large coffee.” Gerard yawns.

“Cream? Sugar?” She asks.

“Black is fine.” Gerard says.

“That’ll be $2.50.” She answers.

Gerard hands her cash and turns to go find a seat. 

“You from around here?” The cashier asks.

“Uh, yeah. Only a few blocks away.” Gerard replies.

“Oh. I haven’t seen you in here before. Most people who come in are regulars.” She explains.

Gerard sits at the couch and stares at the wall. He thinks about Mikey, and how he will never see him again. Suddenly he’s in his own head, completely zoned out.

“Sir?” He hears.

Gerard jolts out of his daze to see the blonde girl in front of him, holding out a cup.

“Your coffee.” She says.

“Thanks. Sorry.” Gerard answers.

To his surprise, she sits down across from him.

“Rough day?” She asks.

“I guess you could say that.” Gerard replies.

She unties her apron and throws it onto the table.

“I’m Skylar.” She says as she reaches out her hand.

Gerard is slightly confused, but he shakes her hand.

“Gerard.” He peeps.

“Well, Gerard, it was nice to meet you. My shift just ended, but if you need anything else, Wendy behind the counter can help.” She stands up and shouts, “Bye Wendy! See you tomorrow.” and walks towards the door, before turning to wave at Gerard.

Gerard glances down and notices she left her apron on the table.

“Wait… Skylar?” He says, but she is out the door.

He could simply return the apron to Wendy, but for some reason, he keeps it.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!
> 
> the next chapter will be up soon :)
> 
> -a&a


End file.
